The top 4-percent plan has incrementally increased admission of Black and Latino students. But in another session of last month's meetings, the university presented an outside report stating that the outreach programs that were expanded when the race-blind policies were instituted, still aren't reaching enough Black, Latino and American Indian high-school students.
Perhaps out of respect for Connerly as a member of the board, the discussion was conducted with utmost decorum — the only interruptions being the finger snapping of some 75 students who opposed the initiative. UC officials were muted in their criticisms of the proposal — and none made themselves available for interviews following the meeting. Atkinson, who sponsored the recommendation to oppose the initiative, didn't speak once about the matter during the meeting.
But as the intensity of the debate illustrated, controversies around race continue to reverberate in the halls of a university once known for its diversity.
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
